Pelinski was given strict orders: stay on the line, don't call police, purchase pre-paid money cards from local businesses. She complied with all three, even as merchants raised questions about what the cards were for.

"In the moment when you think your daughter is going to be killed, you're not going to let them know what you're going through," said Pelinski. "I just said it's for a Christmas party at work...and I'm getting reassurance from the alleged kidnappers (on the phone), saying 'that's a good job. That's a good story you're telling them.'"

Pelinski said she didn't for once think the call was a scam because of the personal stories the scammers detailed: a memory of hearing 2-year-old Hannah play with the Velcro strap on her new shoes; a specific tattoo Hannah has on her right wrist.

How did the scammers know those details? Turns out, daughter Hannah Kosek, 18, was simultaneously swindled by the same scammers.

Out of fear, Kozek also obeyed the scammers' commands: purchase pre-paid cards and read the card numbers as "bail money," stay on the phone, pass along an emergency contact number.

"That makes sense if I'm about to go to jail, I supposed they would need (my mom's emergency contact)," Kozek said. "That was when they were asking me very personal things about me and my mom, asking me things that only she would know, so it seemed real to me for some reason."

The South Elgin Police Department issued a community alert Wednesday, warning the public that incidents like this are on the rise in the Chicagoland area.

The release said two phone scams occurred on Nov. 20 in which "the victims were led to believe that there were warrants for their arrest by the Kane County Sheriff's Office and the Internal Revenue Service" and directed to purchase money cards.